Love Love Love This Man! No BS, talking with Coach Bill changed my life and the way I think about the future.I learned a lot about life, faith, and the true definition of 'character'.

William B. Courtney (Coach), a native Memphian, founded Classic American Hardwoods, Inc. in 2001. Today, it employs 120 people with a 45 acre manufacturing facility and domestic sales offices in Memphis, TN and international sales offices in Shanghai, China and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In 2007, Classic American Hardwoods, Inc. won the Memphis Business Journal’s Small Business of the Year Award based on its growth and commitment to community service.

In 2003, Bill began volunteering at Memphis’ inner city Manassas High School in an effort to turn its underperforming football team around. In 2003, the team had 19 players with a dismal 4-95, 10-year record. In the 2008 & 2009 seasons, the team’s record improved to 18-2, with 75 players. The story was so compelling that a Hollywood film--Undefeated—was produced about it that won the 2012 Academy Award for Best Feature Length Documentary.

In 2011, Bill was inducted into Bridge Builders for leadership in diversity, community, and justice. He was the 2012 recipient of the Liberty Bowl’s Harry Zinn Spirit of 1776 award for distinguished citizenship, recipient of the Carnival Memphis’ King’s award for outstanding achievement in Business and Industry, and the National Football Foundation and College Hall of fame Memphis chapter’s award winner for The Distinguished American for Contribution to Amateur Athletics. In 2013, he was inducted into the prestigious Society of Entrepreneurs as a result of his success in business and community service.

Today, Bill still operates as the President and CEO of Classic American Hardwoods. He’s a public speaker at a variety of venues from the Para Olympics in Colorado Springs to Nike, PepsiCo, FedEx, and other nationally recognized companies to churches, schools, and hospitals, and has written his first book "Against The Grain"- to be released in May of 2014. Courtney lives with his wife and four children in Memphis, Tennessee.

Even if you hate football you will love this book and documentary. It's not about football, football could be interchanged with anything. It's just the vehicle Coach Bill uses to guide and reshape people's minds and thinking. He shows us how changing your mindset will change your reality and ability to succeed, and this can absolutely be applied nearly everywhere.

In this episode, we discuss life's ups and downs, and how to deal with them with dignity, pride, and character.

How did he become a motivational powerhouse? How does he consistently find the energy to help so many people?

How did Coach Bill's childhood experiences with 5 different step-fathers influence him to volunteer with underprivileged kids?

The REAL behind-the-scenes look at filming "Undefeated"- this documentary spans a full High School football season and took over a year to film...

How did he go from being completely broke, to building a $40 million per year lumbar company?

Coach Bill's view on politics, and what needs to be fixed in this country in regards to impoverished neighborhoods...

And most importantly, what can we do to improve our own mindsets and lives, and achieve greatness in this world!

Whenever you have a second, please leave me an honest rating and review on iTunes by clicking here. It will help the show tremendously, including my ability to bring on more incredible guests to answer all of your questions! This show has had nearly 10,000 downloads…but only 25 or so reviews! If you’re listening, please leave a short one here. I appreciate the inside jokes about singing but new listeners are not privy to the joke so it makes me laugh, but I need feedback for them as well. Thanks guys, I appreciate each and every one of you, and I'm excited to see where we can take this podcast project! Show notes and links (e.g. mentioned videos, resources) can be found below.

Please ping him on Twitter (@IamCoachBill) to let him know what you thought! Enjoy!

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-LIBERATION AND ENLIGHTENMENT, GET NAKED, FIND A MOUNTAIN TOP, HIT PLAY, SQUEEGEE YOUR THIRD EYE AND PREPARE TO BLAST OFF INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN WOMB OF THE UNIVERSE AND ENJOY!

Background

For the past 17 years I've made my career out of designing and teaching group fitness kickboxing classes. Many of my classes consist of up to 100 people, who range in fitness levels from beginner to advanced-- all in the same class. Obviously this exposed some challenges and hurdles that I needed to overcome in order to keep my classes at the highest quality possible. Using my classes as my "laboratory", I've successfully implemented a series of techniques that I use to motivate my clients to achieve their fitness goals. It is my belief that health and fitness is far more mental than physical, and by unlocking certain aspects of the mind in a group setting, I've seen some absolutely amazing transformations! Now, over 10,000 classes later, my passion has turned to researching and studying human psychology and how it relates to motivation, learning, willpower, and self-improvement. Each guest featured on my podcast has impacted me at some point in my quest for understanding, and I hope that by bringing all these masters together, we can benefit from the collective knowledge and make the world a better place to live.